Putting technology to work for horticulture

Vineland’s focus on applied engineering and commercialization opportunities accelerates the development of engineering solutions for horticulture.

Our in-house expertise includes a team of multidisciplinary researchers and a pre-commercial greenhouse testing facility.

Vineland technologies and effective automation solutions ease labour challenges by providing process improvement to Canadian producers, processors and technology providers through collaborative and contract initiatives.

Vineland is home to Canada’s Automation Cluster under the Canadian Agricultural Partnership supported by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.

 

Innovation Challenge and Opportunity

Labour makes up the single largest input cost for nearly every horticultural product, cutting into margins and making it difficult for Canadian products to compete in a global market. Vineland’s Automation program aims to fill technology, knowledge and resource gaps that are hindering efficiency and opportunities when deploying technology in horticulture.

We work with companies looking to optimize opportunities in the fast-growing horticulture automation space using our network of growers and other collaborators to create real-world results and impact.

Our process

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Research Services

Custom automation solutions

Technology assessment & consultation

Technology augmentation & optimization

Expertise

Data Science

Field Robotics

Computer Vision

Systems Integration

Data Science

Machine learning algorithms and decision support systems:

  • Irrigation decision support
  • Mushroom harvest decision support

Field Robotics

End effectors for greenhouse vegetable harvest:

  • Long English cucumber end effector with integrated sensors to find stems and gripper to cut and transfer fruit

Computer Vision

Computer vision systems that detect, localize and characterize horticultural products:

  • Vision system to detect, localize and characterize cucumbers in a greenhouse using RGB and IR cameras
  • Vision system to detect and track mushrooms over the growth cycle on a mushroom farm

Systems Integration

Integrated systems built to demonstrate various robotic, vision and software components:

  • Greenhouse robotic pipe rail cart
  • Mobile mushroom cart platform
  • Mushroom pick assist testing rig